Preparation 

Facilities:

• Determine if the plant is located in an area
  prone to flooding from heavy rains, tornados,
  or hurricanes.
• Examine the outside structure of the plant.
  • Is it in good condition?
  • Are there areas that could be improved to help withstand water or flood damage, particularly the roof, lower level coolers, or storage?
  • Is there an emergency generator?
• Develop a clean up plan that covers each room in the facility, including dry storage, processing and slaughter areas, coolers, and freezers.
  • Specify which cleaners and sanitizers should be used on walls, floors, and equipment.
  • Develop a testing regimen to determine if cleanup is effective; include numbers of samples and where they should be taken.
    

• Prepare a call-down system for notifying employees of the plant's operational status.
  • Make sure that copies are posted in a prominent place or that all employees have a copy of the notification plan.
  • Practice using the system.
  • Include emergency contact numbers for fire, police, the District Office, etc.
  • Identify essential functions and the employees who would carry these out.
    

• Determine how product is packaged and stored.
  • Is it in areas that might be affected by rising water?
  • Are there methods that can be put in place to quickly remove product in the event there is time to prepare?
  • Are there ways to protect product from contamination without removing it from the plant?
  • Are there methods to keep product refrigerated or frozen?
• Look at these and other factors and include mitigation strategies in your plan.
  • Determine how you would dispose of any contaminated product, for example, landfill or denaturing.
    

Response 

Facilities:

• Evaluate facility condition.
• Determine if the plant can operate in a safe and sanitary manner.
  • Is there potable water?
  • Is there electricity? Refrigeration?
  • Is there an operational generator?
  • Is there damage to the outside premises?
• Put the plans that you developed in the preparation steps into place.
  

• Implement call-down or notification procedure.
• Determine if employees are safe.
• Determine how many employees are available.
  • What are their positions?
  • Can they carry out essential functions?
• Contact the Frontline Supervisors (FLS) or District office to let them know the status of your operations.
• Keep employees apprised of conditions on a daily basis.
  

• Determine if product is affected or contaminated.
  • How much product is affected?
  • What type of product is affected?
  • Was potable water unavailable when product was produced?
  • Is any product salvageable?
• Retain affected product.
• Maintain contact with FLS or District regarding affected product and conditions.
  

Recovery 

Facilities:

• Determine the extent of the damage, if any, to the plant.
• Arrange for appropriate repairs as required.
• Assess the internal area of the plant, processing rooms, coolers, freezers, and slaughter areas.
• Institute the cleanup plan, including testing after cleanup and sanitizing to determine effectiveness.
• Use the information from the cleanup and sampling results to make determinations about the startup of the plant.
• Determine if the plant can produce product that is safe, wholesome, and properly labeled.
• Determine if the water supply is safe to produce wholesome product.
  

• Use the call plan to determine how many employees are available and to notify them when it is safe to return to work.
• Notify employees of plant operational status as needed.
• Determine if you have enough personnel available to resume operation.
  

• Utilize the disposal criteria as needed.
• Keep records of the amount of affected product that has been disposed of or denatured.
• Determine if product can be reprocessed and still be safe.
• Fill out all appropriate FSIS disposal forms for product.
• Keep FSIS personnel informed on the decisions that you have made regarding product disposition.
• Ensure that FSIS employees are able to confirm proper disposal of product through records or observation of disposal.
• Update your plan as needed.